Hope Walks and Class Reunions
So last weekend was quite a weekend for me. On Sunday, it was great to see a handful of our Lighthouse students participate in Hope Walks in West Davis, to help raise money and awareness for orphaned children in India! It was cool to see our very own Joel Finley have a big role in pulling off the event, and I hope that those of you who went felt encouraged to continue to look for ways to serve Jesus by helping others.
Personally I was so glad that we had to only walk a mile for the event though because I was wiped out! On Saturday night Jenni and I had our 20 year high school reunion in the Bay Area did not get to bed until 3 am. What an interesting event that was! Some people looked familar, some I would never have recognized, a bunch of them called me ‘Joey’, and let’s just say that many of them were feeling the effects of alcohol pretty strongly. I remember wondering soon after I graduated if I would still be following Jesus when I was an adult… going to my class reunion reminded me that I am still following Jesus 20 years later!
The highlight for me (you can talk to Jenni about hers) was talking to an elementary school friend named Rian. Rian and I weren’t really friends by the time we were in high school, but he and his family were the first people to ever invite me to go to church. For some reason, though I had not seen him in 20 years, I felt the need to thank him for reaching out to me like that… it was the beginning of my journey with God. Not knowing if he would be totally wierded out by my out of the blue statement, I was surprised when he said, “I know that I won’t show this to anyone else tonight, but look at this…” and proceeded to pull up his pant leg to show me a huge tatoo of a cross on his calf. “It reminds me of the most important person in my life,” he said. Though I was able to catch up with many old friends that night, I was so encouraged by my short interaction with Rian! We have an amazing God! -Joe
